Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
by Elizon
Summary: Hermione and Severus meet at a Christmas party.


Disclaimer: I do not own the characters used in this story, they and the world they live in belong to J.K. Rowling.

a/n: So for this story, Severus never died during the Battle of Hogwarts. Harry, Ron, and Hermione reached him in time and saved him. Please read and review.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

From Hermione's pov (point of view)

It was the first Christmas after the battle last May against Voldemort. The wizarding world has started to recover and rebuild and was now celebrating the holidays. One of the many holiday celebrations I was invited to was a Christmas Eve ball hosted by Minerva McGonagall at her manor in northern Scotland. I wore a simple black form-fitting dress robe and put my hair in a low messy chignon hairstyle. After having danced with both Ron and Harry a few times and once with Neville, I made my way over to the bar for a glass of wine.  
"Miss Granger," a familiar voice said beside me.  
I turned and saw Snape. "Hello Professor," I said taking a sip of my red wine.  
"Please, I am no longer your professor. Call me Severus, Miss Granger," he said.  
"Then you must stop calling me 'Miss Granger', for I am no longer your student."  
He nodded his head, "Very well, Hermione." He took a sip of his own wine then said. "Would you care to dance, Mis- I mean Hermione?" He asked offering his arm.  
I looked at him then nodded, "Yes I would Severus." I said as I sat my wine glass down and took his arm.  
We walked out onto the dance floor together. He took my hand in his and placed his other hand on my waist as I placed my free hand on his arm.  
"I saw you earlier with Mr. Weasley. Are you two still together?" he asked as he began to lead me in a waltz.  
I shook my head, "No, we are not. We found that we were better off as friends. He's seeing Padma Patil actually now. And between you and me, I think he's going to purpose.."  
"I see. So are you unattached at the present time?"  
I nodded, "Yes I am."

After dancing a while with Severus, we walked out into the snow-covered garden and strolled among the frozen flowers. Severus draped his coat over my bare shoulders as we walked past a fountain in the middle of the garden.

"Hermione," he said as he stopped and reached out grabbing my hand.

I stopped and looked up into his face lit by the glow of the moon.

"I never did get a chance to thank you for saving my life."

"It was nothing," I said, feeling myself blush. "I couldn't let you die. After all, so many had already lost their lives."

"But it wasn't nothing. It was an extremely advanced healing spell you used on me. That kind of magic takes mediwitches years to learn. You truly have grown into a remarkably gifted witch."

I smiled at the compliment. "Thank you."

The rest of the evening I spent talking and dancing with Severus. And despite the twenty-year age difference between us, I found myself starting to feel something for my old professor.  
A few hours later the party was winding down. As Severus and I retrieved our cloaks I worked up the courage to ask him, "Severus, would you like to have coffee with me tomorrow?"  
He looked at me for a long moment then said, "I would like that very much, Hermione. But aren't you worried about what your friends will say?"  
I shook my head, "No. My friends don't rule my heart. I can give my affection to whoever I want. And I choose to give it to you, Severus."  
He sighed, "Hermione, our age difference – ."  
I smiled at him. "I don't care that you are twenty years older than me," I said shaking my head. Then acting on impulse, and probably some alcohol, I stood on my toes to kiss him on the cheek. At the last second, however, he turned his head and my lips met his in a kiss. At first, he was shocked, but a second later he started kissing me back. After a few seconds, he broke the kiss and took a step back.

"Hermione, this isn't right we barely know each other."

"Then let's get to know each other," I replied taking his hand.

I awoke to the harsh sunlight shining in my face. I shut my eyes tight and tried to remember what had happened last night. I remembered dancing with Harry, Ron, and Neville at Professor McGonagall's Christmas Party. Then had some wine. After that, I danced with Professor Snape. Had some more wine. We took a walk in the garden and he thanked me for saving him. I danced with him for the rest of the night. At the end of the party, I think I kissed him. After that, it was all a bit fuzzy.

I groaned and buried my face in my pillow. Then I heard a noise coming from my kitchen. I stood up on unsteady legs, left the bedroom and walked down the hallway.

"Good morning, Hermione," Severus said when he saw me stumbled into the kitchen.

"Morning," I smiled as I sat down at the table.

"Here," Severus said handing me a cup of coffee.

"Well, this isn't what I had in mind when I invited you out for coffee." I chuckled. "My mind's a little fuzzy, could you remind what happened after we left the party."

"You kissed me and invited me back to your flat to get to know each other better. We had some more wine. Then we watched a movie on the telly and you fell asleep on my shoulder," he replied as he sat down at the table with a plate of breakfast for each of us. "I carried you up to your room and I slept on the couch, which was surprisingly comfortable."

I groaned. "Why did you stay?"

He smiled at me from across the table. "Because you asked me to."

I smiled back at him. "Thank you, Severus."

"You're welcome, Hermione," he replied as he leaned in and kissed me. "And Happy Christmas."

I smiled "Happy Christmas, Severus."

And that was my first of many Christmases with Severus Snape.

The End

A/N: I hope you enjoyed my Christmas one-shot. I originally posted this story last week on Christmas, but have since decided I did not like the original ending, it felt a little out of character for Hermione. So this is the revised version. Happy holidays!


End file.
